Canadian tobacco company Players Ltd. said yesterday
that it's "being forced" to take the Players' brand name off
two cars in Sunday's CART Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami, in a
decision that "apparently stems from" the agreement between
tobacco companies and 46 states that limits sponsorships,
according to Bill Koenig of SPEEDNET. Players Ltd. licenses
the Players name from Philip Morris for use in the U.S., but
it said that Philip Morris "terminated the licensing
agreement because" its Marlboro brand is the lead sponsor of
CART's Team Penske. Philip Morris spokesperson Tara Carraro
said that the company's "interpretation of the agreement is
'we get one sponsorship (in CART) and that sponsorship is
Marlboro.'" Players Ltd. sponsors two CART Gerry Forsythe-
owned cars, and President Jean-Paul Blais said that the
company is "continuing to talk to Philip Morris to reach a
compromise for other races." For Sunday's race, the cars
"will carry their normal logo, just without the Player's
brand name." The car sponsorships are not affected for four
CART races outside of the U.S. (SPEEDNET, 3/19).
